Lucky Sithole
South Africa 33 (14) – 14 (7) Ireland
It’s too bad that Sevens is viewed as a stepchild to the larger-format game. Sevens is simple, fast and hard. It is easy to understand, the action is non-stop and you seem to hold your breath throughout the match, but it’s okay. You do it for only seven minutes at a time.
The simple reality is that any sevens player can play the 15-man game. But not every fifteens player can play sevens. That’s because there is no place to hide on a sevens field. Every player has to do everything, all the time.
Any concerns about match fitness and lack of match practice were emphatically answered when coach Neil Powell’s team took to the field against Ireland in their first Olympic match.
South Africa did not touch the ball for the first 90 seconds – which is a long time when a half is only seven minutes – but Zain Davids soon scored the first try under the post, followed by Impi Visser scoring in the corner and Selwyn Davids converting with a drop kick from the touchline.
Ireland scored a try after the halftime siren, South Africa leading by two converted tries to one.
The second half saw South Africa getting stronger while Ireland seemed to weaken somewhat. The Blitzbokke scored another three tries (with Davids doing spectacularly well with conversions, missing only one) with brave Ireland managing one second-half try.
What has changed in sevens, as in the 15-man game, is that the kick pass has become a major part of the tactics and it worked twice for the Blitzbokke.
Sevens has been off the radar for much too long. It’s a blink-and-you’ve-missed-it kind of game. In this match there was one try decision that went to the replay: Try, yes or no? Yes, try. Okay, get on with the game.
Are the Blitzbokke on track to bring a gold medal home to South Africa? Yebo!
Image source: @Blitzboks
